A NORTH-EAST tattooist has been questioned by police after a national newspaper claimed he was the leader of the British wing of a notorious white supremacist group.

Chris Hopgood was visited by officers from Durham Police yesterday.

Detectives wanted to quiz him over allegations in a newspaper that he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

They left after a short time and last night a spokesman for Durham Police said no crime had been committed and no further action would be taken.

Mr Hopgood, who could not be contacted last night, has denied any links to the notorious Far Right group, which is still classed as a terrorist organisation in the US.

The bearded 51-year-old lives in Easington Colliery, County Durham, and works in a tattoo and piercing studio.

Mr Hopgood, known as “Hoppy”, has worked in the tattoo industry for about nine years. He also carries out piercing work.

After a spell working at a studio in Sunderland, he opened his business in Easington Colliery, in 2002.

According to the studio’s website, he has also worked overseas. In the US, he worked at tattoo studios in Savanna, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina.

Mr Hopgood has won several awards for his tattoo work and blending. The business is described as a “friendly family- run business”.

However, a national newspaper claimed he operated a website – whiteknights-kkk.

co.uk – which denounced homosexuality and carried racist comments.

The site has since been shut down.

When asked why he was dressed in a white hood and uniform, Mr Hopgood told The Daily Mirror: “I do it for my personal jollies.”

He added: “I have no views on the KKK. The fact that I have my political views is known by 99.9 per cent of my customers.

“One of the royals dressed as a Nazi stormtrooper, but that does not make him a Nazi.

“I am not a member of the Ku Klux Klan and I am not recruiting in England, Scotland or Wales.”

A Durham Police spokesman said last night: “We take very seriously any reports of groups or individuals who appear to promote violence or extremist views.

“Officers today visited and spoke to Mr Hopgood at his home in Easington and at this stage it appears that no criminal offences have been committed.”